The west coast of Finland is reminiscent of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi. Driving through pine forests, in a flat landscape, punctuated by rivers, creeks and bays, left me feeling as if at home. Moisture close to the Gulf of Bothnia creates clouds not unlike those near the Gulf of Mexico notwithstanding obvious differences between sub-Arctic and semi-tropical environments.
Comparing dissimilarities and similarities between home and destinations far afield provides one with profound insights. I never feel as Southern — as much a Mississippian and, specifically, a Jackson native — as when touring. What William Faulkner described as “my own little postage stamp of native soil” is the alpha and the omega of one’s perspective: It informs first impressions and has the last word when assessing highs and lows elsewhere.
Contemplating the “there there” — Gertrude Stein’s criticism of her Oakland, California hometown was that “There’s no there there” — I immediately intuited tautology between Arctic Sweden and Mississippi. One can relocate physically. Yet the hold upon natives is such that one only travels in space and time: The ties that bind mark one for life, offering identity that never truncates.
Older relatives, distant relatives, and relatives by marriage — and family friends of longstanding — share a birthright as Mississippians; instant rapport; ways of being; unfamiliar to even natives of neighboring Alabama and Louisiana; unparalleled among people hailing from Birmingham and Mobile or Lake Charles and Monroe, for example.
Attempting to demonstrate the generosity of spirit that the Southern ladies peopling my childhood compellingly modeled, I endeavor to impart a kind word to everyone and leave them laughing (granting that so-and-so’s exist who would deplete the patience of individuals able to suffer fools gladly; whose provocations could turn Job into an ax murderer). Meeting people in the Arctic, I inquired about their life stories — seeking to ascertain what makes someone interesting and unique.
Some Swedish Laplanders were Finns who relocated across the border in adulthood. Others with whom I spoke grew up there and now inhabit Finland. More typical were northland natives seeking possibilities in more populated, prosperous parts of southern Sweden.
Winners and losers exist in the contemporary economy throughout the world, motivating people to depart dying municipalities and inhabit ones offering endless opportunities — realities best described in Billy Joel’s “Allentown” (1982) and Randy Newman’s “Baltimore” (1977), both songs released over forty years ago yet arguably more relevant than when recorded.
Common was meeting folks living elsewhere, desiring to reconnect with individuals, landscapes, and places existing at the core of their psyches.
The present population in Swedish Lapland is less than forty percent of its historic high. The area does not appear destitute as often occurs in similar circumstances stateside: The beauty of the natural environment is preeminent such that a built environment which has seen better days is not what is remembered — a priority that Mississippi municipalities and counties must pursue: Our stunning semitropical landscape ought not be eclipsed by squalor when what is recalled can be greater than poverty and neglect.
The trip instructed that cultures marking individuals for life offer economic development opportunities. People would depart and never look back absent the presence of something significant. Mississippians need to contemplate that providing a hold upon us and ponder possibilities for a prosperous, rewarding future emerging from our music, literature, and joie de vivre — our predisposition to embrace life enthusiastically.
Needed is not the ephemeral — the dust in the wind” — seemingly preoccupying the daily newspaper. Our music, literature, and art will remain relevant long after SEC football, NASCAR, and twenty-first century food franchises have been forgotten.
Resisting the superficiality and Babbittry of contemporary America is contrary to the zeitgeist. Mississippians need to do so nonetheless if we are to exit the present imbroglio and enjoy a prosperous future.
Jay Wiener is a Northsider
